Lex Luthor's Encounter With Death

It's no hyperbole to say that few comic book series are as cherished, beloved, celebrated or acclaimed as Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Published from 1989 to 1996, Gaiman's 75 issue run with the series helped firmly establish the legacy of DC's mature, isolated Vertigo imprint and to this day is a hallmark for the medium.

So what on Earth does it have to do with Paul Cornell's 740475/img_7889844.html" class='autolink'>Action Comics?

While it's true that Vertigo and the DC Universe are effectively removed from each other, the two divisions - and the creators involved - decided to let Gaiman's world cross with Cornell's year-long storyline featuring Lex Luthor's quest for a black ring - to get a taste once more of the power he held as an Orange Lantern.

"It suddenly struck me that the most extreme case of Lex encountering characters from all across DC's Universes would be for him to meet Death, and that it would be a wonderfully dramatic encounter too, full of instant possibilities. So we went for it!" said Cornell in an e-mail interview with IGN. "Neil's Sandman was one of the books I followed urgently in my younger days. It stands for quality and meaningfulness, and I hope that, by taking this on and doing it right, hopefully, we demonstrate our commitment to Lex's run in Action."

Cornell even went so far as to obtain Gaiman's permission to use Death - and, as you might suspect, the Sandman writer agreed. "[Neil] seemed very pleased. He's a great fan of the weirdness of the mainstream DC universe, I think."

The Action Comics writer was very cautious to note that he's not about to mash the Sandman toys with the world of Superman. "If you're a Vertigo fan who's worried about a classic character appearing in a 'superhero book': we share those concerns," said Cornell. "This isn't going to be a super powered battle. How could it be? This is going to be an appropriately respectful book long dramatic encounter, a matter of life and Death."

So no superhero battles... what exactly will we see when Luthor encounters Dream's sister? "His immediate reaction is that he has to talk her out of taking him. But that's what she's there for. Can Lex Luthor talk his way out of literally anything? In this case, the answer is no."

Naturally this type of "crossover" begged the immediate question of whether we'd see more Sandman tie-ins coming during Action Comics - or in the DC Universe in general. For his part, Cornell notes that this is just for one issue. "Joy of something like this is that it's a one off," Cornell told IGN. Likewise DC was eager to stress to us that this meeting of two worlds is a special, one-time affair. The DC Universe and Vertigo Universe are not about to be merged. Conspiracy theorists put down your charts and put away those ouija boards.

One last gem of information for those of you following Action Comics. We asked Cornell for some hints toward Lex's future, and if he might run across Larfleeze or any other Lantern Corps guardians in the next year. "There's a good chance of that," Cornell replied. "There are also one or two more as yet unannounced classic DC villains, one of whom is Lex's exact opposite. And not all of the run will take place in Lex's, or the DC Universe's current timeline."